


The world was over

by spaceymage



Series: self indulgent Linny AU [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Ginny Weasley, Transphobia, dead harry potter, ginny is a bi disaster, has anybody tried running a sword through voldemort?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-08-20 20:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16563017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceymage/pseuds/spaceymage
Summary: what if harry chose to move on? would the world be over? would good be defeated? no, of coarse not, Tom Riddle's fate was already decided long ago.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> an au in which Harry, having had enough hardship to last a few lifetimes, decided to board a train and move on

    The world was over, it had to be, Ginny stood stock still staring at the limp body in Hagrid’s hands, It could not be true. Harry potter couldn’t be dead!

    “NO!”

    The scream was all the more terrible because Ginny could never have imagined Professor McGonagall could make such a sound. Bellatrix laughed at the older Woman’s cry of despair. The doorway began to fill around her with more survivors, facing their vanquishers, trying to see if the truth about Harry’s death for themselves. Voldemort stood in front of the line of death eaters, stroking the massive snake’s head, right next to Hagrid carrying Harry.

    “No!”

    “No!”

    Ron and Hermione’s voices came before her own.

    “Harry! HARRY!” Ginny’s own voice broke with the cry, it could not be true. Harry could not be dead. Any second now he would cry back to them, jump to his feet and begin the battle again so they could win the day. But instead of Harry her cry stirred something in the crowd behind her, they began screaming and yelling abuse at the death eaters, until –

    “SILENCE!” the command came from Voldemort with a wave of power which silenced the entire crowd, but as soon as it passed over them Ginny felt a strange sensation in her chest, warm and assuring. “it is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!” Harry’s body was set onto the cold stone.

    “You see?” Voldemort said striding back and forth behind Harry’s body, “Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!”

    “He beat you!” yelled Ron, and, as though suddenly realizing they all could, the crowd as one began to scream again until a second forceful wave of force silence them once again. Yet again Ginny felt the warm sensation just above her heart.

    “He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds,” Voldemort almost laughed the words, he was savoring every syllable as he carefully selected them to best damage the survivors of the earlier battle, “killed while trying to save himself- “

    Someone had nearly knocked Ginny over in a mad dash towards Voldemort, there was a flash and a bang and the the runner was stopped in their tracks their wand on the ground. Ginny straightened up and saw it was Nevil. Voldemort picked up the wand of the challenger and tossed it aside.

    “And who is this?” he hissed. “Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?”

The witch standing to Voldemort’s right, Bellatrix Lastrange, laughed harshly. “It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?”

    “Ah, yes, I remember,” Voldemort’s cold eyes fell upon Neville, sizing him up as he struggled to his feet. Ginny only barely held herself back from trying to pull Neville out of the no-man’s land between the two armies, she had a feeling she should let Nevil stand his own ground, plus she was scared to go near Harry’s body, because once she did, if he was truly dead, there would be no avoiding it then. “But you are a pureblood, aren’t you, my brave boy?” Voldemort asked as Neville curled his hands into fists.

    “So what if I am?” said Neville boldly.

    “You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom.”

    “I’ll join you when hell freezes over,” Neville shouted. “Dumbledore’s Army!” he roared, and in answer the crowd behind him roared as well, their voices returned and the shock on Voldemort’s face flashed for not even a second before he spoke again in that collected and maliciously calm voice.

    “Very well,” the danger in his voice was audible, ever syllable was dripping with murder. “if that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head, be it.”

    Ginny nearly did run forward this time, but she felt something hold her back. She turned and looked and saw Luna, her eyes shimmering, holding tightly onto her wand arm whispering in her ear so only she could hear, “please, don’t, not you too.”

    Ginny nodded and turned back towards the scene in front of them. There was something large and brown floating down like a leaf towards Voldemort who caught it by its pointed tip and held up the empty ragged old thing, the sorting hat.

    “There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School,” said Voldemort. “There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slitherin, will suffice for everyone. Won’t they, Neville Longbottom?”

    Voldemort stepped forward, his wand twitched up and Neville stood stock still. Voldemort tentatively placed the hat on Neville’s head as if testing if the curse would hold, then, satisfied, he forced the hat over Neville’s eyes, the hat remained silent. Behind him the death eaters at one pointed all their wands at the survivors, Ginny could see Bellatrix aiming directly at her face.

    “Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," said Voldemort and with another flick of his wand there was a spark, and then, slowly, agonizingly slowly, with Neville rooted to the spot, the sorting hat began to burn.

    Screams rent the air, but before anyone could do anything but stare at the spectacle several things happened all at once. Behind the death eaters there was an enormous noise and hundreds of people were suddenly charging towards the school firing curses at the death eaters. These witches and wizards, some of whom were still in their nightgowns, seemed to be all the adult friends and family of those who remained in Hogwarts to fight. Ginny saw Slughorn near the front. The survivors all collectively ducked to avoid the incoming fire.

    In that moment from their right while the death eaters were still turning around to face the newcomers a shower of arrows fell into their ranks. Ginny turned her head to see a large group of centaurs charging towards the castle as well. She whipped her head back forward and noticed that Harry’s body was unattended and so, stealing herself, she began to crawl towards him. But, while Ginny was still a good ten feet away the ground beneath them shuddered and there was a guttural roar from her left.

    “HAGGAR!” the cry from Grawp caught everyone’s attention and was then answered by Voldemort’s own Giants who charged him shaking the ground so badly Ginny swore she was airborne for a second. And in the commotion of the giants she lunged the rest of the way to Harry.

    Ginny couldn’t accept what she found, Harry was completely limp and starting to grow cold in the still chill air, she avoided checking his pulse, he could not be dead, he must just be waiting for the right moment when it would be safe to rise, and so, determined to prove every single one of her senses wrong she began to search his body for something, anything to hide them, and then she found it, something soft and silky tucked inside his robes, she pulled the invisibility cloak out and quickly covered herself and harry and began to pull him away from the death eaters and the survivors, as far away from any fighting as she possibly could. In that moment, with Ginny pulling Harry out of harm’s way, waiting for him to finally stand up, that there was one final cry and Neville moved.

    “GRYFFINDOR!” cried the sorting hat which had stopped burning, with one fluid motion Neville pulled the hat off his head and from its depth he pulled a long sword with a glittering hilt. Ginny stared, somehow not sure if it was truly Neville she saw in front of her or a great lion, his now long hair was wild around his head like a main and there was a bright crimson glow around his silhouette. A second after this dazzling sight both Neville and Voldemort’s Great snake pounced. In the blink of an eye the snake’s head was laying on the floor and Voldemort screamed in fury, Neville turned and darted into the castle and Voldemort followed him, so great was his rage that the survivors in his way were forced to the side. The Death Eater followed their master through the path he made and the new army and the survivors followed them to continue the fight.

    As if in response to Voldemort’s scream something in Harry’s chest jumped. Excited, Ginny finally checked Harry’s heart sure it must have been a heartbeat, but all she found was a small lumpy pouch and the terrifying truth of the situation finally hit her, Harry Potter was dead.

    Ginny sat there for what seemed like years, though it was probably only seconds. The cloak, though she knew it only made her invisible, seemed to drown out the rest of the world. How could they ever hope to win after this? Wasn’t it all over? Wasn’t Harry the one destined to kill Voldemort? So without him, how could this ever end? She sat, staring up at the sky, absentmindedly she searched the small bag she had found, and it opened easily for her, revealing a assortment of incredibly strange objects: two lockets, an open snitch, a shard of mirror, and finally a snapped in half wand which Ginny instantly recognized with a pang as Harry’s.

    It was all this together that finally caused Ginny to cry, for the first time in a long time. Not that she hadn’t cried, she had just earlier today talking to the injured girl on the stairs, but it had been a very long time since she had cried like this, tears flowing freely and seeming to be never ending, multiple waves of emotion layering on top of each other, her body shaking terribly. When she was little she had cried like this very often, she had been a very emotional child, but that had ended the moment she realized that her entire life would be a fight just to be herself. She had to grow up fast, fought viciously with her brothers when they refused to call her their sister. The last time she had cried like this, so vulnerable, showing her emotions, had been when her family had written her name on her 9’th birthday cake and each pitched in to buy her as many new clothes as they could afford.

    Suddenly a huge shudder and splash brought Ginny back to her senses, Grawp had thrown one of the giants towards the lake and the giant squid had reached out and dragged it under as it thrashed wildly. Watching Grawp tussle the remaining giant while several thestrals and one hippogriff pecked at its eyes and a few wizards on the ground fired spells at any open woulds they could find reminded Ginny that the battle was still going, everyone was still fighting, even though they thought Harry was dead, maybe even because they did, fighting in the name of the chosen one, fighting so his death was not in vain.

    Ginny stood up, she knew what she had to do, she had to fight too, fight until either Voldemort died, or she did. Stealing herself for a moment before finally settling back to action. She dragged Harry’s body around the corner of the castle and hid him away in a little notch in the wall, she grabbed the bag thinking these objects must have been important for a reason, then put a disillusionment charm on Harry and turned away, clutching the phoenix wand and her own in her hand, the tightness of her fist holding the two halves together. She looked one last time at the spot she had hidden Harry’s body and then, with nearly all the will she had in her, she turned and walked determinedly back towards the entrance.

    The great hall has chaos, hundreds of duelers all firing off spell at each other,  house elves hacking and slashing at Death Eater’s legs, and centaurs with bows and spears charging through the fighters killing with terrifying precision. Every sew seconds someone seemed to drop. Two duels in particular caught her attention, Bellatrix fighting Luna and Hermione, and Voldemort facing Neville. Ginny was incredibly tempted to join the latter, Neville still didn’t have a wand, he was attacking Voldemort with Gryffindor’s sword, the red glow had faded and his hair had dropped a bit but he was still swiping at Voldemort with as much ferocity he had the snake, Voldemort was narrowly dodging the swings but no matter what curse he tried to cast nothing seemed to hit or affect Neville seemingly drawn to the sword like a lightning rod. But before Ginny could run to Neville’s aid she glanced at the other duel, specifically Luna, and she remembered that look on Luna’s face when she had held her back at the entrance, and so Ginny changed course  to engage Bellatrix.

    This was dueling like she had ever experienced before, not even during the earlier fighting, Bellatrix was incredibly out of their league. But with the surprise and advantage of Ginny being invisible and that they were fighting three against one they were gaining ground, she was beginning to get wild, or perhaps she was just playing with them. Then suddenly a bolt of green light passed inches from ginny’s own face knocking the hood of the cloak back. And a second later a scream of anger came from behind her. “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” screamed her mother, having just defeated her own Death Eater, “OUT OF MY WAY!” she roared as she pushing past her, facing Bellatrix. And with a swipe of her wand she began to duel.

    It was clear to Ginny the moment they engaged each other that Bellatrix really had been playing with them. Her Mother was fighting to kill, jets of light flying from their wands with such rapidity it almost made Ginny feel sick. the floor around the two fighter seemed to sink slightly, becoming cracked and hot.

    “No!” her Mother yelled as several students made to try and help her. “Get back! Get back! She is mine!”

    At this point hundreds of people lined the walls watching the two fights, too afraid to give aid to either, and Bellatrix was laughing only barely taking Molly seriously. “Ooohhh scared for that little thing pretending to be a girl? Afraid he’ll go the same way as Freddy?” Bellatrix taunted, Ginny winced at her missgendering her feeling Luna grab hold of her hand for reassurance she squeezed it let her know she appreciated it. And then in a hoot of laughter Bellatrix’s arms went wide and Ginny flashed back to that large room in the ministry when Sirius Black had died and instantly knew before it did what was about to happen. On cue Molly shot a curse in just below Bellatrix's ribs and something seemed to drain from Bellatrix as the life left her face and she crumpled to the floor.

    From the other side of the hall an enraged scream brought everybody’s focus to Voldemort as Nevil was sent flying the sword landing nearby. Voldemort enraged at the fall of his most powerful lieutenant was storming across the hall raising his wand to kill molly and then likely everyone else.

    Ginny managed to avoid being stopped by both Luna and her mother as she charged forward between Voldemort, somehow she knew exactly what she needed to do.

    “Avadakadavra!”

    “Expeliarmus!”

    To the the surprise of everybody including Ginny and Voldemort  the two spells had met in the middle and become a gold beam of light connecting the tips. In confusion Ginny looked down at the wands in her hand and realized the gold beam was coming out of harry’s wand not hers. When she looked up she saw what almost looked like fear on voldemort’s terrifying visage. And then one large bead formed in the stream of magic. Almost instantly a look of rage formed on Voldemort face and the bead began to move rapidly towards Ginny. She realized what she needed to do just in time and willed the bead to a stop inches away from harry’s wand. She needed to win, this wand was harry's it was the last connection to she had to him whatever was happening now had to be the key to beating Voldemort.  And so she pushed with all her might and every ounce of will she had built up over the years, fighting to be Ginny, fighting off the thrall of the diary, fighting Umbridge in the DA, fighting Snape’s reign this year, like trying to summon up a patronus she thought of times he had been strong and pushed that ball of energy towards Voldemort, every meter she felt the wand in her hand begin to crack more and more but finally she managed to force the bead right to Voldemort wand and with on final push at the wand that felt like only splinters in her hand she forced it in.

    There was a flash of light  as both wands exploded, when Ginny got to her feet she noticed there was a new figure in the hall, standing directly between her and Voldemort who was still righting himself. The figure was see through, a ghost? No they were gold not smokey white but Voldemort answered her question for her.

    “Potter” he growled pulling a wand from his robes “what is this? Why will you not stay dead?” Ginny’s heart leaped he was here! He had really come back! But no, something was still wrong.

    “Riddle, honestly, I’ve absolutely no idea”Harry said.

    “Uh, I think I can explain what happened!” Ginny said and all in the hall turned towards her. “Well harry do you remember how you told us about what happened in the graveyard three years ago? The thing with your and Voldemort's wands having twin cores? Well i took your broken wand off your body and was holding it when I tried to disarm him i think that twin cores thing happened. I’m sorry, but your wand shattered when you appeared” she confessed and harry floated unnervingly over to her side his wasn't cold unlike the ghosts of the castle.

    “Ah, I thought it might be that but obviously tom riddle over there is too edgy to say it. Excellent work Ginny you did a much better job than i ever could have, I’m way more solid than my parents were, and you did also shatter tom’s wand too. Too bad he’s now holding the most infamously deadly wand in history” harry said patting Ginny on the head. Then he started gliding back towards Voldemort. “Now, to your other question riddle if it’s any consolation it seems like this one is gonna stick, for both of us, but I don’t have time to explain it all, so I’ll leave the final secret and the reason you are going to lose with Ginny, mostly just to piss you off riddle. See you beyond the veil tom, er- well probably not, i doubt we’re going to the same place” and with that Harry turned his back on Voldemort whose face was twisted in rage.

    “Hey, uh Harry i know I’m supposed to respect the dead but could you not rile up the murderous dark wizard when he’s about to try and kill me?”Ginny asked picking herself off the floor and tightening her grip on her own wand.

    “Come on, one last outrageously dangerous act of heroism, who knows maybe Gryffindor will get last minute points for it and win the house cup.” Harry laughed the way he did back at the burrow in their first few years knowing each other, a light-hearted care free boyish laugh. Ginny felt her heart skip a beat and then another as Harry seemed to flicker. “Oh, it seems I'm really out of time I’d better make this quick.” he moved in closer to Ginny, “ready?”

    “Don’t go, please.” Ginny pleaded leaning in inches away now. “Outrun death one more time, for me”

    “That’s the point of it though, all of it, you can’t outrun death, it doesn’t matter how many people you hurt to gain power, everyone dies, and so all we can do is love, love the world, our passions, and each other” he was a hair’s width away now and Ginny was keenly aware of his lack of breath and warmth, it was like he wasn’t really there, just an image, as if to hit this home he flickered again for longer this time.

    “When did you get so smart?” another flicker, there were only a handful of seconds before he was gone forever.

    “Dunno, guess the women in my life are rubbing off on me.”

    With only a second to spare Harry pressed forward and the instant their lips made contact he was gone and all at once a wave of memories flooded into Ginny’s head. It passed a moment Later and the memories now felt like they had been Ginny’s all along, it was jarring. She took a beat assessing what specifically it was Harry thought she needed to say.  Then she burst out laughing.

    “Oh you dickhead, all the build up for that?” she stood up, confident, her arms at her side and chin held high. “Ok, tom, I’ll be frank with you, you can’t kill me, and your only chance to maybe live until you die of natural causes behind bars is to feel some real genuine remorse.”

    “Ah, so you just want me to get rid of my horcruxes, and risk my life doing so, perhaps you hope I will die in the attempt, because you and no one in this room can kill me while I have this wand, the elder wand, the wand of destiny, the unbeatable wand. You are bluffing, but you are right i cannot kill you now.. But i can simply find out how break the charm like I did the one on Potter, perhaps it is already broken, I do still have Harry potter's blood running through my veins. but until I find out I will kill anyone who gets in my way. And then, I will come back for you.” He began to circle, and Ginny mirrored him but not raising her wand.

    “Merlin’s saggy ass you really don’t know anything about love do you? You really think I’m the only one Harry was protecting when he died in the woods? Can you say for certain there is anyone in this room right now you can safely kill even if you could try? Because here’s the real kicker riddle, that wand in your hand is completely useless, because it’s last owner died of their own volition, and it knows it. it’s already dead all its magic is gone.”

    “Ah yes the last plan of Albus Dumbledore, but that plan failed, I killed Severus Snape! and so the wand if mine!’

    “Yeah, it did fail, but not in the way you think. You really should have learned more about wands before placing your last hope in one, you don’t need to kill someone to claim their wand. And Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before Snape even got there, and that was enough, the wand recognized him as its master. And before you say you’ll just kill Draco, you can’t, Harry had a massive hate crush on him for seven years, and also he isn’t the master anymore either, because Harry disarmed him. And hold your horses because yes you killed Harry but he walked in there prepared to die, he sought it out, something you could never do, he sacrificed himself. get it yet riddle? you never defeated him! And so that wand is now master-less, its magic is broken and I'm guessing the core is already dead. So go ahead try killing anyone, but my brother Ron can tell you how bad an idea it is to use any spell with a broken wand.”

    “More bluffing and Lies, is that all freaks like you have? Lying to get your way, lying to the world and yourself about who you are. You dress up like a girl but you are just a scared little b-”  something in Ginny snapped, she was tired of letting him live anymore, and Voldemort did not get to finish his monologue as 3 things happened at the same time. The first was Ginny’s arm shooting up, immediately Voldemort and Ginny, as if waiting for that to happen shouted their Last Hopes to the sky as unbeknownst to either a third person rushed towards them.

    “AvadaKadavra!”

    “Avadaka-”

    There was a single flash of green light, a wand flew from its owners grasp and Tom Riddle stood there, stock still, Neville Longbottom behind him the sword of gryffindor sticking from the dark lord's chest. With an athletic leap of a chaser Ginny jumped up grabbing hold of the master-less and dead elder wand as Neville pulled the sword from Tom Marvolo Riddle, whose body slumped to the floor, Lord Voldemort was dead.

    There was silence for what felt like centuries and then the tension snapped and the people around the edge of the room rushed in on them, shunting Tom Riddle’s body to the side, simply wanting to be close to the two of them. They gave each other a look as the people pressed them together and in unison raised the sword and the two wands into the air and a cheer rang out through the crowd.

    They nodded in understanding to each other and went their separate ways, moving through the crowd shaking hands, accepting hugs and tearful congratulations and thank yous. They consoled the grieving hearing their woes, staying as long as they could give to every single person. News was coming in from all over, Kingsley was made temporary minister of magic, hundreds of people were coming out of the imperious curse, the fleeing deatheaters were being rounded up at that very moment. At some point Harry’s body was brought in and given a place of honor at the center of the hall while Tom Riddle’s body had been turned to stone, broken up, and chucked into the lake.

    Ginny sat down next to Luna as Peeves swooped overhead singing

“We did it!

We bashed em!

weasle and bottom got it done!

Now voldey’s gone moldey so now let’s have fun!”

    “Rather morbid isn’t it” Luna said watching peeves twist and twirl through the air. “A bit tackles but it does put a pin on how surreal all this is”

    “Yeah, this crowd is wild, Feels like it should really be more a somber occasion but i can’t bring myself to tell them to stop.” Ginny sighed leaning against Luna watching 3 boys downing a bottle of fire whiskey.

    “Would you like to get out of here?”

    “Yeah absolutely, if i could, doubt they’d let me -” Ginny stopped when she felt Luna press something soft into her chest and looked down to see the invisibility cloak. She looked up at Luna then over at Neville who was regaling a group of admirers with how it felt to wield the sword against voldemort. She turned back to Luna and said “come with me.”

    They got out of the hall without much issue, Ginny dipped under the table, hid under the cloak and sat back down next to Luna keeping her invisible hand on top of Luna’s so she knew she was there, then when no one was looking Luna stealthily pulled the cloak around herself too and they weaved their way through the crowd. No one even noticed they’re feet sticking out from under the hem.

    “Could Harry have stepped aside and let other people be the heroes when it wasn’t the most important time” Ginny said as they walked through the halls, making their way slowly upward, huddled together under the cloak in case someone passed by.”at least Neville got some practice in this year, I have no idea how to be the hero, i was honestly just following his lead.”

    “Neville or Harry?”

    “Who knows, Harry’s memories are still messing up my head, y’know how weird it is to have two separate memories of the same kiss, one where you’re kissing yourself?”

    “Mm, how much of him do you think is in there?” luna palmed ginny’s head staring at Ginny’s temple so hard it was like she was trying to see for herself.

    “I don’t think he’s really in there, just his memories, not all of them though, I don’t think he had that much control over which ones he gave me, seems like it’s the ones he thought were important at the time but like other ones just slipped in.”

    “Will it become a problem to have these dissonant memories, a memory charm might help.”

    “Maybe later, I’ve got a few questions first.”

    They did not take the cloak off until they reached the staircase to the headmaster’s office, the gargoyle guarding it had been toppled and so let them pass with only a grumble of acknowledgement. When they reached the office they were greeted with a wave of noise as the portraits of previous headmasters applauded them. The portrait of Dumbledore smiled at them.

    “Hello miss Weasley and miss Lovegood, if the rumors are correct one of you two is half of the pair that killed the dark lord.”

    “I’m pretty sure it’s more likely it was Neville, I mean he stuck a sword in him, I’m not even sure if I even properly cast the killing curse, wouldn’t it be bad if i could?”

    “Do not sell yourself short my dear girl, you are an exceptional witch, if I may say so, in raw talent you outshine your peers. And while yes the killing curse is unforgivable and can damage the soul when used for murder, you used it to ensure that Lord Voldemort could absolutely not harm anyone else, to end an evil the world may never fully recover from. And so i feel i am certain in my assessment that your soul is perfectly intact.”

    “That’s good” she paused looking around. “You don’t know where Harry is do you?”

    “Well if he really truly did decide to move on, as he is rightly justified to do, then i would think he is spending time with his family.”

    “So you don’t think he will come back like as a ghost?” Ginny said, disappointed, slumping her shoulders, Luna placed her hand on her back to reassure her.

    “No, if moving on was his choice as i think it may been then he will have no unfinished business here.”

    “What about us? His friends? Me?” Ginny said loudly  starting slightly angrily.

    “Harry has become a man wise beyond his years, he has been forced to endure things a man of his age never should and has grown from it, he will have realized that on the scale of hundreds of years you all are simply on the next train in, as i myself once said, ‘to the well trained mind death is but the next great adventure’ rather a good one if i do say so myself”

    “Yeah, I got that memory.” Ginny  relented, it was so hard arguing with him, “you’re kinda manipulative you know.”

    “Yes in my time spent contemplating my life i have found that is one of my many major failings.”

    “Well at least your aware of it,” Ginny looked around the room. “What about a portrait we could paint a portrait of him, then we can at least talk to a version of him.”

    “Ah well that may be a problem, you see magical portraits are not like moving pictures where you use a potion to make them move, the subject must be present for the painting such that the painting may have what is essentially a copy of the person’s mind in the painting. But if you say you have some of Harry’s memories then it may be possible, I’m sure both the Ministry and Minerva would be most grateful, but i must tell you you mustn’t mistake a painting for the real person, we feel only shades of emotions, we do not change, physically or mentally, and from my experience, it can be rather boring talking to paintings all the time.”

    “Yeah I might do that, it’d be better than leaving it off like this” she looked down at the wands in her hand. “There was something else, something harry was thinking about, He dropped the stone in the forest, its as good as lost forever, and the wand is dead because Harry died without being defeated” as if to prove this Ginny pocketed her wand and then snapped the elder wand over her knee, there were no sparks like a normal wand snapping, simply snapping wood and something black and rotten on the inside.

    “Yes he did remarkable good making sure no one is tempted by them again, and the cloak?”

    “I think I’ll keep the cloak, and when I’m old I’ll pass it on to some other trickster headed for hogwarts. That's how its meant to be right?”

    “Yes, yes it is, wonderful.”

    “Are you two talking about the deathly hallows? I was wondering when everyone would realize Harry’s cloak was a hallow.” Luna spoke up looking as if she had genuinely been waiting for this subject to come up.

    “Yeah, but it's only the cloak now.” Ginny said looking confused at Luna, mostly because she had only just found out about the hallows a few hours ago from Harry’s memories, so the fact Luna knew Harry had been carrying one around for seven years was a little disconcerting.

    “That’s good the others were so gloomy anyway.” she said as she began playing with Ginny’s hair.

    "yes, their existence was quite morbid, the world is a better place without them to temps fools like me." the portrait of Dumbledore said looking thoughtful, and slightly sad.

    “Anyway, I think that’s everything, I think I’ve earned a good nap don’t you Luna?” Ginny said tilting her head back to look at her. Luna nodded finishing up the braid only she seemed to be able to make in Ginny’s perpetually tangled hair. And the two of them got up, walked out of the office, and went up the staircase to the gryffindor common room.

    When they got there Luna turned to start going back down the stairs but Ginny grabbed hold of her hand. “Please stay with me?”

    Luna simply smiled and followed her inside and up to the girl’s dorm. “I missed you a lot this year, i kept thinking about when i was going to see you again, maybe more than i thought the same thing about Harry.”

    Luna raised her eyebrows but replied happily “I missed you too, you’re me closest friend Ginny.”

    “But that’s the thing I’ve been all confused since I saw you today, I can’t stop thinking about you, while the fighting was going on all I could worry about was how you were doing, especially now that things are calming down, thoughts of you are filling me head, I haven’t felt this way since I was 11 and was fangirling over Harry.” The two of them sat down on the Bed that had been Ginny’s at the beginning of the year.

    “And what if i said that’s the way I’ve felt about you since we first met.” Luna said idly, though there were tears forming at the corners of her eyes. she kept her hands busy by making Lilies with her wand and braiding them together. “I simply thought that because you dated so many boys that you wouldn’t be interested in me.”

    “I… I think I felt the same way from the beginning too, just, I guess we aren’t all as open minded as you.” she leaned in towards Luna. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

    “It’s alright, and I’m sorry.” she placed the flower crown on Ginny’s head and crossed the rest of the distance between them their lips now within an inch of each other “But, if i may be impatient for once I’ve wanted to kiss you for years and you already did this whole back and forth thing with Harry earlier.” and then she was pressing herself into Ginny with a soft but insistent kiss that seemed to last for centuries.

    Ginny was the one who cut it off, pulling away and breathing hard, her heart going a thousand miles a minute. “Whoa, that was, wow, I’m sorry, I really enjoyed that but with everything that's happened I can’t quantify what this is, but I likes it, we should do it again, later tho, I really am exhausted.”

    Luna laughed that beautiful full body laugh and hugged her, pulling her down to the bed, “It’s alright, I understand, I’m just so happy, we can discuss what we are, later, sleep tight, don’t let the wrackspurts bite.”

    And with that, in the warmth of the four poster bed and Luna’s embrace Ginny fell softly to sleep. Whatever happened next could wait, for now there was time to simply enjoy the presence of someone she loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to be clear, what they are is in love, soon to be girlfriends. if people like this I might write and epilogue  
> edit: hehe there were allot of typos at the end huh? decided to go back and do some editing


	2. Epilogue: 1 year after the battle of hogwarts

    It was past midnight, may 2nd 1999. They were at the hogs head, all the remaining members of dumbledore’s army and a dozen other students who had fought in the battle a year ago were crammed in the small bar catching up, drinking profusely, and singing songs. Ginny had even seen the girl she had comforted on the steps of the castle during the lull in the fighting kissing another girl near the back. There were less people here than they’d invited, some simply couldn’t make it, like Ron who was busy at the ministry. But some just didn’t make it, period.

 

    Ginny and Luna were at the bar, drinking, well ginny was drinking enough for the both of them. She was leaning on Luna and laughing at something hilarious she had said, she couldn’t remember what it was but she knew it was really funny. Then someone passed behind them and commented that they were a cute couple and Luna was kind enough to explain that the two of them weren’t dating. But the pained look on her face made Ginny feel terrible so she patted Luna to get her attention before trying her best to put together a coherent sentence.

 

    “I’m read dating you.” she thought it got the point across.

 

    “Ginny, you’re drunk.” Ginny honestly took offence to that! She was being serious! But Luna had a point, she was drunk.

 

    “Yeah, ok.” she stood up shakily and cupped her hands around her mouth. “NEVILLE! SOBER ME!

 

    “YA SURE? YOU’RE GONNA REGRET IT!”

 

    “YES! DON’T BE A SNAPE!” after the sounds of Neville rummaging through his coat something flew across the room and smacked her in the face. She plucked it out of her hair, it was a twig with icy blue leaves all along its length.

 

    “POP ONE OF THE LEAVES IN YOUR MOUTH BUT DON’T SWALLOW IT.” Seemed reasonable enough, she plucked one of the leaves off the branch and put it onto her mouth. Immediately she felt a wave of ice cold wash over her like being dunked in ice cold water, at the same sime her insides felt like they were burning. It was intense and uncomfortable but not nearly as bad as Neville made it sound. In a couple of minutes she was completely sober. And she turned back toward Luna.

 

    “Lets go,” she said grabbing Luna’s hand. And Luna followed her without any hesitation. Once outside they began walking up the empty street, the school looming above them in the distance had the day off in remembrance, curfew had even been lifted but most of the students had gone back to their common rooms by now. Both Ginny and Luna had opted to not continue their education however,Luna had taken over her father’s magazine, and Ginny had joined the holyhead harpies, as a provisional member s far but still. And the locals of hogsmeade were either already sleeping or getting ready. But the D.A.’s party planned to go till sunrise, just like the battle the year before.

 

    “Okay so now that I’m not drunk lets talk this through.” Ginny said, squeezing Luna’s hand.

 

    “That seems reasonable, you did promise we would decide what we are almost exactly one year ago.” there was no pain or malice in the statement, it was just a fact, Ginny loved that about Luna, she always put everything about her on display, the only secret she had ever kept from Ginny was that she liked her.

 

    “Yeah, and then we all learned the hard way that, well, wars don’t end once the fighting stops, I don’t think we’ll ever fully recover, but I’m getting better and you being in my life has been the biggest help.”

 

    “Yes, you are doing wonderfully Ginny.”

 

    “Th-thanks, um anyway, we’re almost always together, I don’t think I could fall asleep anymore without you with me, when the nightmares come you are so caring and understanding.” Luna squeezed her had the reassure her. “And I definitely know i enjoy kissing you more than anything.” that made even Luna blush. Ginny had definitely kept one of her promises a year ago, Ginny barely went a day without kissing her. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I love everything about you.” she stopped walking and turned to face Luna, grabbing her other hand.

 

    “So?” Luna tilted her head to the side.

 

    “I think I’m ready.” she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Luna’s lips.

 

    And then Ginny started to feel the worst hangover of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry Christmas! this is not the end, I have one more epilogue in the works. dunno when it will be done, probably when i hit another writers block on my way more self indulgent self insert fic. or maybe ill wait until some significant date. also yes i used snape as an insult, in my au instead of calling people a dick they call them a snape, rip in piss snivellus


	3. epilogue 2: 11 years after the battle of hogwarts

    Chaos, everything was absolute chaos. Everything Ginny had experienced in her life paled in comparison. Transitioning? Child’s play. Being possesed? Walk in the park. Facing off against the most powerful dark wizard in living memory? Piece of cake. Getting Teddy ready to leave for the hogwarts express? Impossible!

 

She thought her brothers and her had given their parents a hard time when it came to getting going on september 1st. But compared to that Teddy was natural disaster levels of destruction. Even with the help of her mom, Hermione, and Ron who’d all come over from the burrow, they were barely ready to go on time, luckily for them all Luna had had the forethought to turn all the clocks in the house forward half an hour so while the other’s thought they were running late they were really comfortably on time. Teddy had packed and re-packing their luggage until the very last minute. Eventually settling on two whole trunks, one half filled with their school supplies and the other packed with several sets of robes in various cuts some more feminine some more masculine and some in between, not to mention all the street clothes they packed. Ginny, having grown up in a poor family felt they were spoiling them a bit, robes are robes, she thought, she had had her brothers’ hand me downs for her first couple years, before she started taking the potions to have the right puberty, and barely anyone had thought she was anything but a girl. there were a few pairs teddy had where the only difference was which side the fastenings or buttons were on. 

 

    But she also understood how they felt so she couldn’t help but buy them whatever they wanted with the frankly unreasonable amount of money Luna and her had found themselves with. With the holyhead harpies making it to the quidditch world cup under Ginny as captain, and the Quibbler becoming one of the most popular sources for news after the war ruined the ministry owned daily prophet, both of their jobs made more than either of their dad’s ever had combined. 

 

    Then a few years ago Hermione became minister of magic, and did something no other minister had dared to do. She put every single pure blood family who had aligned themselves with the death eaters, even those who had done so simply by not acting, on trial and took their property and assets, selling what could be sold, converting what couldn't into public property. Thoroughly liquidizing a massive amount of inherited wealth which had been constipating the system for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.

 

    Then she distributed the wealth to the families of everyone who fought in the war, even the families of the death eaters now in prison. Then for each person that had died fighting against the death eaters to the next of kin went an extra allotment of gold. and so Ginny and Luna had ended up with the portions from their own families, and having taken custody of Teddy after Andromeda’s passing they received the full sum for Remus, Tonks, and Ted Tonks. then there was the gold meant for Harry and Serius, Hermione had decided to put that in Harry’s vault in gringotts, throwing in the gold for Snape since it also had nowhere to go, and then gave a key to every member of the DA she could get in contact with. Each of them had taken a small chunk then left the rest for a rainy day.

 

    And so all together Luna and ginny had found themselves sitting on a small fortune of gold. It was probably enough for both to retire on given the two were very used to getting by on simple means. But Ginny loved playing quidditch, and Luna loved writing. So the two had decided to put the gold in its own vault in teddy’s name. They’d decided to spend the gold on Teddy, while still buying their school supplies with the money the two witches earned from their own jobs, until they came of age, then they’d give Teddy the key and whatever was left. 

 

    The 6 of them piled into Ginny’s car, a 1976 ford escort, Ginny’s dad had helped her enchant it like he had his old ford anglia, well, mom had stopped them from adding the ability to fly, as far as she knows. Ginny, Luna and Teddy were seated comfortably in the front seat with Molly, Ron, and Hermione in the back seat had plenty of elbow room, even with Ron spread out the way he does. 

 

    “We really dont give muggle’s enough credit, you’d never guess it was this roomy from the outside, right mom?” Ginnny said, grinning from ear to ear.

 

    “Oh hah hah, your father still hasn’t gotten a promotion and I think it’s because of that car.” 

 

    “I think he’s just so obsessed with muggles he wouldn’t take the promotion even if someone were to offer one. Isn’t that right missus minister?” Ron said looking over at his wife who slapped him on the shoulder.

 

    “I’ve told you Ron that is not my job and it would be unfair for me to give special treatment to my father-in-law! I can simply remind to the head of the Muggle Liaison Office of how important he was during the cleanup of the war, which I have done several times!” Hermione huffed while the the other 4 adults laughed as the car pulled out of the drive of the Rook.

 

    Teddy on the other hand just had a scrunched up look of concentration on their face as the car turned onto the freeway. “What’s bothering your dear?” Luna asked gently touching their shoulder.

 

    “I don’t know what color to make my hair! I wanted to make it something to celebrate my first day! But I don’t know which house I’ll be in, so I don’t know if i should make it red or yellow or green or blue!” Teddy said, their hair turning from the coppery blond it had been for a good week to their natural black. 

 

    “Why not just make it a mess of all four? Oh! Then when you hear which house you’re in change it to that color, but do it as quick as you can before mcgonagall takes the hat off! Bet everyone will think that’s wicked!” Ginny said, to be honest even after all these years she still thought the whole metamorphmagus thing was amazing. She wished it had been as easy as a thought for her to transition, instead of drinking those minty and chalky potions once a week.

 

    “Oh yeah that’s a great idea!” Teddy closed their eyes and their hair shifted. tufts of color popping u at random until their hair was was a sight that hurt the eyes, but they couldn’t be happier, looking at their hair in a compact they smiled from ear to ear then hugged ginny’s side. “Thanks mom!”

 

    Ginny nearly swerved off the road, in the few years Teddy had been under their care they had never called her mom. It’s not like the change was sudden, teddy had already spent most of their time at the Rook, it was hard for a kid their age to live with their grandmother, and Andromeda Tonks had been going downhill for a few years, she had lost her husband and her daughter. And so once things had settled down, and teddy had grown out of the infant age where they needed her constantly, the toll finally hit her and though she was not particularly old, she went the way many seniors who lose loved ones, growing more and more apathetic with life until she simply lost the will to live and wasted away. By that point Teddy was already living full time with Ginny and Luna. but the transition had been a slow one, and so Ginny had been worried Teddy didn’t see them as their parents. She pulled them into a tight hug with one arm.

 

    “Heh, mom, you were wrong, having a kid didn’t hurt at all, ‘dunno what you were always complaining about.” even as tears welled up in her eyes she still had to crack a joke. And she was rewarded with Luna laughing that full body laugh full of snorts and wheezes.

 

    “Hahahaha they’re such a big baby! hahaaaaaa, how did you manage that my love?” she was bent double clutching her stomach as she struggled to breath for laughter, ginny was surprised she didn’t roll on the ground like  she had when ron told that stupid joke 13 years ago, there was enough room in the magically expanded car.

 

    “Oh just you wait a couple days, you’re probably going to wind up crying on my doorstep about how much you miss little teddy. And then you’ll cry again in 7 years when they leave to live on their own, oh you will be a sobbing mess on my kitchen floor.” she was exaggerating a bit, but she knew this would hit her strong daughter hard. Her only daughter, who  told her at a very young age that she wanted to be a mother, years before she even realized she was a girl, so young Molly doubted she even remembered the comment, or how she had cried for an entire day when Molly at first said that was impossible.

 

    “Are you still mad about me moving in with Luna? You literally have your precious wonwon and his minister of magic wife living with you! Anyway I’ve got my perfect wife to cry on!” she reached over Teddy with the arm she had been hugging them with and pulled said wife, still recovering from her laughing fit sandwiching teddy between them, Luna giggles and leans over to kiss her wife on the cheek.

 

    They finally pulled into the parking lot of kings cross station and pilled Teddy’s trunks and their bright white owl, lil, short for liliganny, Ginny named her. The 5 adults guided them in how cross the barrier and they slipped in without a hitch, even given they could barely see over the trolly. The adults followed with practiced ease and Ginny and Luna went with them to help put their trunks away, most of the compartments were taken. 

 

    They eventually came across a compartment with two kids, one sitting on the right side in drab muggle boy’s clothes which hid as much skin as possible even in late summer. The other on the left was wearing equally cheap looking girls clothes. They were both reading, not looking at each other at all. the boy’s long dark hair hiding his pale face while the girl on the left had her locks pulled into a high bun revealing the light patches blooming across her skin. Ginny felt a twinge in her heart, she wasn’t sure if she was remembering the lonely boy she met 18 years ago, or the one she had seen in her own mirror 20 years ago. And so she tapped Teddy on the shoulder and gestured towards the compartment. They had some trouble lugging both their trunks and lil’s cage in and up into the luggage racks. They turned around and stuck out their hands.

 

    “Hi, I’m Teddy! They/them pronouns” both looked up and took in Teddy, first their painful hair, then their face, then their dress-shirt and skirt then took Teddy’s hand. The girl stayed quiet not meeting Teddy’s eyes. The other one opened his mouth out of instinct.

 

    “Hi im ro-” he clamped his mouth shut looking pained, quickly pulling his hand back.

 

    “It’s okay, you can say your real name,” they said sitting down on beside the girl. The one across from them quickly glanced between the two of them.

 

    “L-Luna” they mumbled looking out the window.

 

    “Oh! That’s one of my moms’ name!” the other kid’s eyes widened a little and they looked back at Teddy at that.

 

    “That’s my Wife’s name!” Ginny said loudly leaning into the doorway. Startling the three children.

 

    “That’s my name!” Luna mimicked Ginny in her sing song voice leaning in behind her.

 

“Y-You’re... you’re!” the boy(?)’s eyes bugged wider taking in the women as they came in to each give Teddy one last hug and kiss on the forehead. “You’re Ginny!” They lifted the book they had been reading, it was one of Hermione’s new history books. 

 

“Yes I am, am I in that one?” they nodded then looked over at teddy then back at Ginny.

 

“I-I’m… I’m!” they struggled to find the words, eventually deciding to gesture between Ginny and herself, “like you. I read your interviews, I’m like you.” she stood up, hugging the book to her chest. 

 

“You’re a girl?” Ginny asked, the little girl nodded, smiling for the first time since teddy had entered. “Have you told anyone else this?” she nodded again.

 

“My two older brothers, they’re great but… I know my parents don’t like people like me, you’re the first person like me I read about who wasn’t… a joke.”

 

“Are your brother’s on the train?” the older Luna asked while she was inspecting the younger Luna’s large pile of books. 

 

“No, I’m the only one in my family who can do magic.” she sat back down. “I’m gonna miss them but I’m glad i get to be away from my parent’s. I just wish I could use my name, and I heard the dorms are separated by gender.”

 

The other young girl on the left slowly raised her hand. “ m-me too. I’m also trans, today’s actually my first day out as a girl.” she paused for a long couple seconds. “I’m also a muggle born too... and… My name is also Luna.” all of them started laughing at that.

 

Ginny knelt down so she was eye level with the younger girls. “Listen, i know it’s scary but I promise, all you gotta do is tell two other people. First, headmistress Mcgonagall, as soon as you get to the castle, she’ll be waiting for the first years in the entrance hall and will make sure your names are used and you end up in the right dorms, then as soon as you can go to the nurse, madam Pomfrey, then you’ll be able to start taking the same potions I took to make me so pretty.”

 

    “Really?” the more talkative young Luna said. They both looked so excited, obviously they didn’t think it would be so easy.

 

    “Yup!” she placed a hand on top of the little girls’ heads. “Trust me, you’re going to be beautiful.” suddenly the heard a loud whistle. “Oh dragon farts, looks like that’s our cue to leave!” she grabbed her wife’s hand and ran out of the carriage. Luna simply waived serenely and told the three to have a good school year. They just barely made it off the train, leaping back onto the platform just as the train started to move.

 

    “Get distracted?” Ron was grinning at them as they caught their breath. 

 

    “Just a bit, where’d mum go?” 

 

    “Had to head home, apparently george showed up unannounced and she had to make sure he didn't burn down the place.” Hermione explained as she waved the train off. Luna and Ginny managed to pull themselves together just in time to  wave as the last sight of the train left their view.

 

    “Welp, since mum’s not here wanna go get a drink before heading home?” Ginny thumbed back towards the exit of the the platform.

 

    “One, its 11 o’clock. two, we can’t, I convinced Ron that he can’t drink for as long as I can’t.” Hermione looked stern at her.

 

    “Hey that was a lot of stress for one morning! I didn’t even feel as stressed out during the quidditch world cup! And why..” she looked at Hermione. “Can’t you…” a look to Ron, “drink…” look to Hermione’s hand placed on her stomach. “OH SHIT YOU’RE PREGNANT! HA, GUESS YA REALLY DO GOT BALLS RON!”

 

    “Well would you look at that, urgent ministry business, gotta go!” Ron, with a blush from the tips of his ears to the base of his neck, grabbed Hermione’s hand, turned on the spot, and disapperated.

 

    “Hahaha that big goof, can you believe that Lu?... Lu?” Luna was gazing off at where the train had been there not long ago, her left hand was resting lightly on her stomach. “What’s up Luna?”

 

    “Oh, i was just thinking how I can’t wait for when the four of us can do this again in twelve years.” she reached out and took Ginny’s hand in her right.

 

    “What do you mean? We’re gonna be doing this for the next 7 years, but I dunno if Ron and Hermione will always help out. Unless you mean their kid?” Luna simply shook her head and smiled at her, raising her eyebrows. Ginny’s mind started turning, twelve years, the four of them, Luna and herself, obviously, she looked off at where the train had just left, where Teddy just left, the four of them, she looked down at Luna’s hand on her stomach. “...really?” her voice was strained, she could feel the tears beginning to sting the corners of her own eyes. When she looked up at Luna she nodded, tears forming in her eyes too. Ginny couldn’t  find the words, to tell luna how much she loved her, to tell her how much this meant to her, she had just become a mom today, in two ways, Teddy was going to get a younger sibling. 

 

    She opted for reaching up behind to the back of Luna’s head with her free hand, and pulling the love of her life into a soft kiss, one which like many she had shared with the enchanting girl made the world seem like it had stopped just for them. Together they departed, equally in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy lesbians day, have some happy moms, why are there two girls named luna in the compartment? because one of them is my self insert (my first chosen name was luna) and the other is a character from a much longer original story im writing, and i just thought it would be funny.


End file.
